Rookie gets the ball Thursday for Cardinals. Is he here to stay?

Rookie pitcher Luke Weaver is with the St. Louis Cardinals for the time being. Will that still be the case at the trade deadline Monday?

The Cardinals are believed to be engaged in multiple trade discussions involving Lance Lynn, who could have worked his last game with the team Tuesday against Colorado.

If Lynn is moved, Weaver, 23, could remain with the Cardinals through the end of the season.

Weaver isn’t looking that far ahead. He will try to tame the Arizona Diamondbacks when he makes his first start of the season at 6:15 p.m. Thursday. He is taking the turn of Adam Wainwright, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday.

“It’s really exciting,” said Weaver, who is 9-1 with a 1.91 ERA in 13 starts at Class AAA Memphis, with 14 walks and 69 strikeouts in 66 innings. “(The Cardinals) have been playing well. (Wednesday) night was an awesome win and we hope to keep that momentum going (Wednesday) and (Thursday) as well.”

Weaver, the Cardinals’ No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft (27th overall), joins former Memphis teammates Paul DeJong, Harrison Bader, Carson Kelly and Luke Voit in St. Louis.

It will be Weaver’s third game this season with the Cardinals, following two relief appearances against the Miami Marlins earlier in July. He has not allowed a run in three innings. Weaver was 1-4 with a 5.70 ERA in nine games, eight of them starts, last season.

“My approach doesn’t change,” the Florida State product said. “I’m just going about my routine the way I usually go about it. I’m taking the times in the bullpen and just building off that experience. I’m going into (Thursday) like any other start, being comfortable and calm and doing the best I can. ... It’s an exciting time to get an opportunity.”

Star in making

Injured pitcher Adam Wainwright was home watching the game on television Tuesday. On Wednesday, he raved about the young talent on the Cardinals’ roster.

Wainwright rattled off the names of Bader, Kelly, Voit and DeJong.

“Don’t even get me started on Paul DeJong because I think he’s a superstar,” Wainwright said of the shortstop who on Wednesday set a Cardinals rookie record for home runs in one month with eight, boosting his season total to 14. “Can anyone just come up and hit bombs like Paul DeJong is doing, (with) extra-base hits left and right? I don’t think so.

“I really like this group of young guys because I think we’ve got a little renaissance coming up here that’s going to be pretty awesome. ... These guys are (winning) players. They’re 30 games over .500 down there (at Memphis) for a reason. I think our front office is going, ‘Look, guys, we’re fixing to do a swap here if you all don’t pick it up.’”

Piscotty headed to rehab assignment

Right fielder Stephen Piscotty (right groin strain) will leave Thursday morning for a rehab assignment at low-Class A Peoria of the Midwest League.

Piscotty will play three games in four days, and if all goes well, he will rejoin the Cardinals during a three-game series that begins Tuesday in Milwaukee.

Piscotty is batting .236 with six home runs and 31 RBIs in 69 games.

Mayers recast as reliever

Weaver won’t be activated until Thursday, which meant Mike Mayers was in the bullpen Wednesday and occupying the roster spot of the injured Wainwright.

Mayers has made 15 starts at Memphis this season, but has relieved in his last four games. He is 5-6 with a 3.49 ERA in 19 games, with 28 walks and 76 strikeouts in 85 innings.

“I’ll soak it all in and enjoy it,” Mayers said. “It’s a lot different (being a reliever) because your day-to-day (routine) is different. Your routine of what you’re going to do before you throw and all that stuff is a lot different. You have to be ready to pitch every day.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Rookie gets the ball Thursday for Cardinals. Is he here to stay?."